Feeding and turn-over mechanism for inverted container end elements



Aug. 28, 1962 w. J. HONOR 3,051,355

FEEDING AND TURN-OVER MECHANISM FOR INVERTED CONTAINER END ELEMENTS Filed Nov. 13, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Muir, 42%, M2;

ATTORNEYS INVENTOR Aug. 28, 1962 w. J. HONOR 3,051,355

FEEDING AND TURN-OVER MECHANISM FOR INVERTED CONTAINER END ELEMENTS Filed Nov. 13, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR WczZz'erfffwlor.

VMZ; M g F" ATTORNEYS Aug. 28, 1962 w. J. HONOR 3,051,355

FEEDING AND TuRN-ovER MECHANISM FOR INVERTED CONTAINER END ELEMENTS Filed Nov. 13, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VENTOR WzZZerf 1 /072073 ATTORNEYS Aug. 28, 1962 w. J. HONOR 3,

FEEDING AND TURN-OVER MECHANISM FOR INVERTED CONTAINER END ELEMENTS Filed Nov. 13, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IlIErIQ. z 6.9

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BY mm, M, /%Zm f ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3 051,355 FEEDING AND TURN-OVER MECHANISM FOR INVERTED CONTAINER END ELEMENTS Walter J. Honor, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Continental Can Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporatlon of New York Filed Nov. 13, 1958, Ser. No. 773,596 7 Claims. (Cl. 221-211) This invention relates generally to machines in which can ends, can end overcovers, bottle caps, jar caps or other container end elements are removed one at a time from the lower end of a stack and applied to the containers.

In such machines, the container end elements are very often stacked in inverted position and righted before application to the containers: and prior mechanisms for so doing have not only been rather complicated but have not been as trouble-free as desired. The present invention therefore has aimed to provide a new and improved 'feed and turn-over mechanism of extreme simplicity and one which will give trouble-free operation.

A more specific object of the invention has been to provide a novel organization in which a drum turret is rotatable on a horizontal axis under the stack and is provided with peripheral pockets to successively receive the inverted container end elements, convey them downwardly to righted position and deliver them to a transfer means to be picked up and conveyed into position for application to the containers, and in which a vertically movable suction cup is mounted within said drum turret and operable to pull the container end elements successively from the bottom of the stack and deposit them in the drum turret pockets.

Another object has been to provide the drum turret in cupped form, to provide a fixed support extending into the cup, and to mount both the drum turret and the suction cup on said fixed support.

A further object has been to provide a novel organization in which both the drum turret and an actuating cam for the suction cup are continuously driven, for smooth operation.

A still further object has been to provide novel means for supporting the stack and permitting picking off of the lowermost can end element, without the necessity of using a finger mechanism with wear and adjustment problems.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, the appended claims and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view.

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation, as indicated by the arrow 2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view on line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view on line 4-4 of FIGURES 1 and 3.

FIGURE 5 is a top view of the drum turret.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged detail sectional view showing the stack supporting ring and a container end element supported thereby.

FIGURE 7 is a similar view showing the manner in which the container end element is freed from the stack supporting ring and moved downwardly by the suction cup.

FIGURE 8 is an inner side view of the suction cup actuating cam.

In the present disclosure, the container end elements E are overcovers for application to cans containing food 3,051,355. Patented Aug. 28, 1962 to be seasoned to taste: and said overcovers, when applied, provide pockets to contain packages of seasoning. These overcovers are stacked in a rack 10 in inverted position, are downwardly pulled successively from the bottom of the stack, are then turned over and finally fed to the machine which applies them to the cans.

A bracket 11 is provided for attachment to the machine frame. This bracket includes a vertical wall 12 having a horizontal mounting flange 13, and a vertical plate 14 in a plane at right angles to said wall 12 and flange 13. The plate 14 has a lateral flange 15 (FIG- URE 1) provided with a bearing 16 in which is mounted one end of a shaft 17. A bearing 18 for the other end of the shaft 17, is suitably mounted at 19 on the plate 14. The shaft 17 is continuously driven by the overcover applying machine, by means of a chain and sprocket drive 20 and is utilized to drive elements later described.

A fixed block 21 is secured by screws 22 to the vertical wall 12 and projects horizontally therefrom above the mounting flange 13. The free end of this block 21 rigidly supports a horizontal stub shaft 23 on which a sprocket 24 is rotatably mounted. The sprocket 24 is secured by screws 26 (FIGURE 3) to the end wall 27 of a drum turret 28. The end wall 27 is disposed at the inner end of the block 21 and is formed with an opening 29 through which the stub shaft 23 extends. Axial shifting of the drum turret 28 and sprocket 24- toward the bracket wall 12 is prevented by the block 21: and a thrust washer 30 is secured at 31 to the outer end of the stub shaft 23 to prevent axial shifting of said turret 28 and sprocket 24 away from said wall 12. A chain 32 connects the sprocket 24 with a sprocket 33 on the shaft 17 and this shaft thus continuously drives the drum turret 28. This turret comprises the single end wall 27 and a cylindrical side wall 34 secured to said end wall by screws 35 (FIGURE 3). The side wall 34 extends from the end wall 27 toward the vertical bracket wall 12 and surrounds the block 21.

The turret side wall 34 has circumferentially spaced shallow pockets 36 to successively receive the overcovers E from the lower end of the stack: and a suction cup 37 is mounted within the turret and actuated to downwardly pull one of said overcovers E intoeach pocket as it arrives under the rack 10. The turret side wall 34 has openings 38 through which the suction cup 37 is operable. These openings 38 and the pockets 36 are sufiicien-tly elongated to allow the suction cup 37 to be raised and lowered and deposit an overcover in each pocket while the turret 28 is continuously rotating.

The suction cup 37 is secured to the upper end of a vertical stem 39 which is slidable in a bore 40 in the block 21. At one side of this block, there is a lever 41 which is fulcrumed between its ends at 42 to said block. The inner end of this lever 41 is pivotally and slidably connected at 43 with the stem 39. The outer end portion of the lever 41 extends through a slot 44 in the bracket wall 12 and is pivotally and slidably connected at 45 with a slide block 46 which is mounted in a guide 47 secured at 48 to said bracket wall 12. The slide block 46 has a cam follower 49 received in a cam groove 50 of a cam 51. As seen in FIGURE 8, the greater part 56 of the circumference of the cam groove 50 has a radial width corresponding to the diameter of the cam follower 49, but for the remainder of said circumference said cam groove is inwardly widened at 50*. While the suction cup 37 must occupy lowered position, the cam follower 49 travels in the relatively narrow groove portion 50 but when said suction cup must be raised, the widened groove portion 50 allows said cam follower 49 to descend, thereby permitting the required movement of the lever 41. This movement is effected by a spring- 3 pressed pin 52 slidable in a guide 53 carried by the upper end of the slide guide 47, as seen in FIGURE 3.

The cam 51 is mounted on a stub shaft 54 secured to the bracket wall 12 as seen in FIGURE 3: and said cam has a sprocket 55. A chain 56 connects this sprocket with a sprocket 57 on the shaft 17 and the cam 51 is thus continuously driven.

Under thedrurn turret 28, a transfer means 58 is provided to receive the ovcrcovers E as they leave the turret pockets 36 after being completely turned over by movement from the upper portion to the lower portion of said drum turret 28. The turret 59 of the means 58 is suitably driven and moves the overcovers into position to be engaged by known, magnetic, turret-carried, pick-up devices 60 (FIGURE 1) which travel on an arcuate path 61 and convey the overcovers on to the applying means therefor.

An arcu-ate track plate 62 is provided at the periphery of and concentric with the drum turret 28 to retain the overcovers E in the pockets 36 until they arrive in positions to be engaged by the transfer turret The track plate 62 is secured at 63 to the bottom plate 64 of the rack 10, in the present disclosure.

Any suitable provision may be made for opening the suction cup 37 to vacuum when it is raised and for breaking the vacuum in said cup when it is lowered. In FIGURE 4, an upper port 65 and a lower port 65 are shown in the block 21: and a duct 66 which leads to a vacuum source is connected with said upper port 65. A port 67 in the stem 39 communicates at its upper end with the interior of the cup 37. The lower end 68 of the port 67 communicates with the upper port 65 when the stem 39* and cup 37 are raised and the required vacuum is thus established in said cup to permit it to downwardly pull the overcover E from the stack into the turret pocket 36. When this function has been completed, the port end 68 communicates with the lower port 65' and the vacuum in the cup 37 is thus broken.

The bottom plate 64 of the rack is provided with a narrow ledge 69 as seen more particularly in FIGURES 6 and 7. This ledge supports the stack of overclosures E by very slightly extending under the peripheral edge of the lowermost overcover as exaggerated in FIGURE 6 but when the suction cup 37 downwardly bows said lowermost overclosure, this bowing causes such change in the diameter of the overcover that its edge will clear the ledge 69 as seen in FIGURE 7. No finger mechanism is therefore necessary to support the stack and permit feeding of the overoovers therefrom.

The stack supporting means is particularly advantageous when each overcover E, when in stacked position, has a downwardly presented disk portion 70, an upstanding side wall 71 and an upwardly fiared lip flange 72 on said side wall.

Operation As the drum turret 28 is driven, the cam 51 causes actuation of the suction cup 37 in timed relation with the turret rotation. As any turret pocket 36 approaches receiving position under the rack 10, the suction cup 37 moves out through the opening 38, engages the lowermost of the inverted overcovers E of the stack and again starts to move inwardly. When the pocket 36 arrives at receiving position, the overcover is deposited in said pocket and released by the suction cup 37. The overcover then travels with the drum turret 2S, and is retained in the pocket 36 by the track plate 62 until it has been turned completely over. Then, it drops to the transfer means 58 from which it is removed by one of the pick-up devices 60 and carried on to its destination.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been disclosed for attaining the desired ends. However, it is to be understood that variations may well be made within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. In a mechanism in which inverted container end elements are successively pulled downwardly from a stack, turned over and delivered to a transfer means; a drum turret for receiving the end elements from the stack, turning them over and delivering them to the transfer means, means rotatably mounting said drum turret on a horizontal axis, a suction cup mounted separately from said drum turret for up and down movements within said drum turret and operable to successively pull the end elements downwardly from the stack and engage them with said drum turret, said drum turret having openings through which said suction cup is operable, means for driving said turret, and means for actuating said suction cup in timed relation with the rotation of said turret.

2. In a mechanism in which inverted container end elements are successively pulled downwardly from a stack, turned over and delivered to a transfer means; a horizontal-axis drum turret for receiving the end elements from the stack, turning them over and delivering them to the transfer means, said drum turret having a circumferential side wall and only one end wall, a fixed member extending into said drum turret through the open end thereof, means rotatably mounting said turret end wall on the inner end of said fixed member and thereby rotatably mounting said drum turret, a suction cup mounted for up and down movements on said fixed member for successively pulling the container end elements from the stack and engaging them with said drum turret, said turret side wall having openings through which said suction cup is operable, means for driving said turret, and means for actuating said suction cup in timed relation with the rotation of said turret.

3. A structure as specified in claim 2, in which said suction cup is carried by a slide reciprocably engaged with said fixed member, and in which said suction cup actuating means includes a lever fulcrumed between its ends to said fixed member and connected at its inner end to said slide, and cam actuated means associated with the outer end of said lever for actuating said lever.

4. A structure as specified in claim 2, in which said suction cup is carried by the upper end of a stem slidable in a vertical bore in said fixed member, said stem and said fixed member having coacting ports for subjecting said cup to vacuum when said cup is raised and for breaking the vacuum in said cup upon cup lowering.

5; A structure as specified in claim 2, in which said means for rotatably mounting said turret end wall on the inner end of said fixed member includes a stub shaft secured to said inner end of said fixed member and projecting outwardly through an opening in said end wall, and a drive member rotatably mounted on the projecting end of said stub shaft and secured to said turret end wall, said drive member constituting an element of said turret driving means.

6. In a mechanism in which inverted container end elements are successively pulled downwardly from a stack, turned over and delivered to a transfer means; a horizontal-axis drum turret for receiving the end elements from the stack, turning them over and delivering them .to the transfer means, said drum turret having a circumferential side wall and only one end wall, a fixed member extending into said drum turret through the open end thereof, means rotatably mounting said turret end wall on the inner end of said fixed member and thereby r0- tatably mounting said drum turret, a suction cup mounted for up and down movements on said fixed member for successively pulling the container end elements from the stack and engaging them with said drum turret, said turret side wall having openings through which said suction cup is operable, a fixed bracket at the open end of said drum turret andsupporting said fixed member, a slide guide secured to said bracket, a slide engaged with said guide for up and down movements, a lever extending into said'drum turret and fulcrumed between its ends to said fixed member, the outer end of said lever being connected with said slide, a vertically slidable stern constituting part of the means for mounting said suction cup on said fixed member, said stem being connected with the inner end of said lever, a cam follower on the aforesaid slide, a cam cooperable with said cam follower to actuate said slide and said lever and thereby actuate said suction cup, means for driving said cam, and means for driving said drum turret.

7. In a feeding and turn-over mechanism for inverted container end elements, a fixed vertical rack in which the inverted end elements are stacked, said rack having means for so supporting the stack that the end elements may be successively pulled downwardly therefrom, a drum turret mounted on a horizontal axis directly under said rack, said drum turret having peripheral pockets to successively receive the downwardly pulled end elements, a suction cup mounted separately from said drum turret for up and down movements within said drum turret for downwardly pulling said end elements from the stack into said pockets, said drum turret having openings through which said suction cup is operable, means for retaining said end elements in said pockets until they have been turned over and for then releasing them, transfer means under said drum turret to receive the released end elements, means for driving said drum turret, and means for actuating said suction cup in timed relation with the rotation of said drum turret.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,470,348 Clark Oct. 9, 1923 1,658,837 Derby Feb. 14, 1928 2,355,385 Lowry Aug. 8, 1944 2,551,476 Vantlander May 1, 1951 2,563,654 Mackin et al. Aug. 7, 1951 2,600,138 Tesch June 10, 1952 2,640,606 Cox June 2, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 550,938 Germany June 12, 1934 1,161,209 France Oct. 13, 1956 

